Rail from Paris to Gimmerwald (Swiss Alps, via Interlaken)

For high-speed trains (like the TGV from Paris to Switzerland) you need to purchase your ticket in advance in order to get the lowest fares; they use airline style pricing. For Paris to Interlaken purchase tickets at http://tgv-europe.com You can print your tickets out at home or pickup in Paris, don't let the site redirect you to Rail Europe. For Interlaken to Rome check out the Swiss Rail site at http://www.sbb.ch, you can pick up your tickets at any rail station in Switzerland.

Awesome thanks!

The station you want in Interlaken is Interlaken Ost. Buy your tickets from Interlaken Ost to Gimmelwald when you get to Interlaken. There is frequent service, but you will need to make connections. See the detailed timetables on the Swiss Rail site given by Michael.

Risabh, For your trip from Paris, you'll likely travel via TGV to Basel and then transfer to Swiss Rail to Interlaken Ost. When you arrive at Interlaken, you'll need to transfer to the small Berner Oberland train for the short (~20 minute) trip to Lauterbrunnen. From there you'll walk across the street and board the Post Bus (which will likely be waiting, bright yellow you can't miss it) for the short trip to Stechelberg. There you'll board the Cable Car for the brief but spectacular trip to Gimmelwald. You can save money by purchasing tickets on the premium trains in advance, but keep in mind that will "lock" you into a specific date, train and departure time. Reservations are compulsory on the premium trains such as the TGV. You can also buy tickets for the TGV while in Paris at any large station or SNCF Boutique. For the rail trips in Switzerland, you can either buy in advance from the sbb.ch website mentioned earlier, or buy at stations in Switzerland. Your tickets from Interlaken Ost to Gimmelwald will include ALL modes of transport. One important caveat to mention if you decide to pre-purchase tickets for travel in Switzerland. Be VERY CLEAR to ensure that the trains you board are the ones listed on your ticket. The Swiss have been cracking-down on ticket violations lately, as shown in THIS BBC article. As in Italy, if you don't have all your "ducks in a row", you can expect a hefty fine! On that note, Happy Travels!

Thanks to everyone who has posted. Lots of useful information here. Have one more follow-up question after looking into the train rides on the websites listed here. I have looked into the trains from Paris to Interlaken and there is a direct train amazingly which takes about 5.5 hours and leaves around 6 PM from Paris. If I take this train, will I miss a lot of the countryside views in the train being that it is a night train or is it early enough to catch daylight. Also, the train will arrive in Interlaken at midnight so should I stay in Interlaken that night and then go up the next morning to Gimmerwald? I feel that maybe the cable cars will not run that late and I'll also miss out on spectacular views going up at midnight that Ken was referring to.

Risabh, I'd suggest travelling during the daytime, as that way you'll not only be able to enjoy the great scenery but it will also save a "wasted" night staying in Interlaken. That's not a difficult trip at all, especially via TGV which travels at up to 300 kmH. In the same situation, I'd use a departure from Gare de Lyon at either 08:23 or 10:23 (time 5H:05M, one change in Basel), as that would provide an opportunity to enjoy the trip and get to my hotel when it's still daylight and do a bit of a "walkabout" to familiarize myself with the neighborhood. Bottom line - your trip, your choice. Cheers!

You really don't want to miss the first amazing ride up the cable car do you? And the first view of the Alps as you travel between Bern and the Alps? The change at Basel is very easy ... there is no real reason, unless you have special circumstances, to try to avoid it and wait for the rare through train. I would certainly do the daylight trip, even though I have made the journey many times. I just love the views, and those of the Lake of Thun, too.

Then I will take the day train for sure. Thanks again to everyone who has replied.

Hello again, I'm sorry but I have one more question regarding the train transfer from Basel to Interlaken. On the voyages.sncf site it shows the arrival time from Paris to Basel at 13:26 and the the departure time from Basel on the Swiss train to Interlaken at 13:31, leaving only what appears to be 5 minutes to do the transfer! Since we are first time train users in Europe this seems a bit risky. Will this be feasible or am I being unnecessarily worried. Thanks again

Five minutes in enough time to make the connection. If for some reason you miss the train to Interlaken, your ticket will still be valid for any other train that day. There are typically two trains per hour to from Basel to Interlaken.

Risabh, It appears that you're referring to the 10:23 departure from Paris, as that arrives in Basel at 13:26 and departs for Interlaken at 13:31. The Basel station consists of two parts, a smaller regional station (which I believe is operated by SNCF) and the larger Swiss SBB station which is where the fast trains operate. According to the SBB website, your train from Paris will arrive on Platform 9 in the SBB section, and depart for Interlaken on Platform 10 of the SBB section. Therefore it appears that you'll simply have to walk off one train, cross the platform and board the next train. I wasn't able to find a track layout for Basel SBB, but it's likely that the two tracks are right next to each other. That's probably the reason for the short change time. I doubt that it will be a problem, but don't stop for coffee when you're changing trains! When you're buying tickets, be sure to get the correct spelling for your destinations. It appears that your desired destination is Gimmelwald and not Grindelwald. Both places are relatively close, so you'll need to be clear on that when buying tickets. Hope that helps.

@Nigel, Thanks for posting the link on the Basel track plan. I spent a few minutes searching for it, but didn't have any success. @Risabh, Regarding your questions, my suggestion would be to continue with your plans to visit the Berner Oberland and Gimmelwald. It makes a logical "intermediate break" on your trip from Paris to Rome and as Nigel mentioned, you'll miss a real treat if you skip it. If the weather is good, the scenery is amazing!

The map mentioned by Ken is at: a tiny url: http://tinyurl.com/sbb-basel-plan The full link is http://www.sbb.ch/content/sbb/en/desktop/bahnhof-services/am-bahnhof/standort/railcity-basel/_jcr_content/relatedPar/contextmenu_1/downloadList/station_plan_.spooler.download.pdf Platforms 9 and 10 are indeed across from each other on the same platform. When you board the train to Interlaken Ost sit upstairs if you can, facing the direction of travel and sit on the left facing forward. After Thun you will see the Alps, out of both left and right depending on how the the track bends, then Thunersee out the left side with the steamers on it, and you can follow the lake all the way until Interlaken. There are two stations in Interlaken, West (west) and Ost (east). To go up to Gimmelwald (you do mean Gimmelwald not Grindelwald, do you? - It could be either, but there is no "Gimmerwald" as you write) you need the second one, Interlaken Ost.

Hello all, So I was looking at my itinerary from Paris> Gimmelwald> Rome and was wondering if this was too much to do in the given time of 9 days. I was wondering what people thought of the below 2 options: 1. To stay 4 nights/4 days in Paris, take the train to Gimmelwald, stay 2 nights there and then take the train to Rome early at 7 AM where we then end up staying for 2 nights. or
2. To stay 4 nights/4 days in Paris, take the train to Rome (not go to Swiss Alps) which will take 12 hours. Spend 3 days/4 nights in Rome and take a day trip to Florence on one of those days. I know this is a significant deviation from the plan I outlined above, but after seeing how much time is used in travel to/from Gimmelwald, I wonder if this is viable. Again, thanks for your help

You don't lose a whole lot by stopping and falling in love with the Alps. You can save a bit of time, and have a few more options on your day in the Alps, by staying in Muerren instead of Gimmelwald. If you have never experienced the Alps, especially the Swiss Alps, especially the absolute "reach out and practically touch them" moments in Muerren, you have missed a real treat.